Harrah's Reward Program

A few years back, I signed up for Harrah's rewards program. There's no Harrah's in Colorado, but I made enough trips to Las Vegas, so I signed up. After doing some research, there are some things I don't like about the Harrah's reward program.
  • Reward points expire after 6 months. Since there's no Harrah's in Colorado, I would have to fly somewhere at least once every six months to keep my points going. It should be at least a year if not longer.
  • You get one point for every $5 coin-in with slots and every $10 coin-in with video poker. Twice as much for video poker? I know the odds are better with video poker (which is why I play that) but that's a huge difference.
  • They don't have information for all Vegas casinos posted, but the quickest return is $10 Java Coast (at the Flamingo) credit. That is 1000 points. Meaning I have to put $10,000 into a video poker machine in order to get $10 credit at a coffee shop.
  • The cheapest buffet in Vegas I saw was the Paradise Garden Buffet at the Flamingo. Lunch for 2 was 2400 points. I have to put in $24,000 into a video poker machine to get lunch for two. Let's say I actually do that, and let's say the video poker pay back is 99.52% based on perfect play and finding the machine with the highest pay table. That lunch for 2 cost me $115.20 - and I generally can't find machines with that highest pay table at any casino.
Note that other cities have some cheaper rewards (900 points for Harrahs St Louis lunch buffet, for example). But I think the Player's Club (MGM Mirage) is a better deal.

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